Siddaramaiah was planning to seek BJP’s help to become CM: Deve Gowda

DHNS
May 3, 2018

Bengaluru, May 3: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was willing to knock on the BJP’s door to become chief minister in 2004, his former mentor and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda said on Wednesday.

“Let me be very frank. In 2004, Siddaramaiah was ready to take the help of the BJP to become the chief minister. I did not agree. All our 58 MLAs met at a resort and we decided against it,” Gowda said. Siddaramaiah was then with the JD(S). The revelation came during the former prime minister’s interaction with reporters in Bengaluru.

The remarks come amid escalating tension between Siddaramaiah and Gowda, with the former repeatedly attacking the latter in public. “Neither Mallikarjuna Kharge nor B S Yeddyurappa speak of me lightly, but Siddaramaiah does,” he rued.

He added that Siddaramaiah was smarter than Yeddyurappa. “Yeddyurappa went to jail, whereas Siddaramaiah created the Anti Corruption Bureau where he takes decisions.” Further, he joked that the BJP and Congress were like brothers. “Reddy brothers are back in the BJP, while the Congress inducted Ashok Kheny.”

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi showering respect on him, adding fuel to the speculation that the BJP was cosying up to the JD(S) ahead of the May 12 polls, Gowda said there was nothing more than what meets the eye. 

“Modi understands the background of every state he visits. Congress president Rahul Gandhi asked me to come clean while making a speech in my native district. Siddaramaiah got my portrait removed from Vidhana Soudha. They don’t know how to respect a Kannadiga who became PM, but Modi showed respect to the chair I once held. There’s nothing else to it,” he said. Gowda complained, however, that Modi had failed to address the Mahadayi river water sharing dispute during his visits to Karnataka. Gowda said he was not bothered about surveys predicting a hung Assembly. “The JD(S) now has the support of Mayawati, Asaduddin Owaisi, N Chandrababu Naidu, K Chandrasekhar Rao among others. Kumaraswamy is getting massive support wherever he is going.”

The result of this election holds the answer to the question whether or not a regional party is necessary. “I have suffered much pain to keep this party alive. I’m fighting two national parties,” he said.

Comments

Aneesh Karanth
 - 
Thursday, 3 May 2018

Father and son no less than a snake. Beware you will meet the same as Nitish ******

Shameer
 - 
Thursday, 3 May 2018

Very surprising, at this age he remembers so much, does he remember who was his political mentor since early 60ies to middle of 70ies? I know him since those days, when he use to visit his mentor. His mentor was speaking for him in election rallies while HDDG was taking a nap on the stage. His political career is finished,yet he don't want to retire. He want his sons and the grandsons to rule in Karnataka.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Central government on a plea challenging the Constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and effective implementation of the Assam Accord.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde also sought Centre's response on the plea filed by Assam Social Justice Forum.

The petition sought appropriate directions for taking effective steps for the implementation of Assam Accord, 1985 in letter and spirit and for conservation and preservation of the of a distinct culture, heritage and traditions of the indigenous people of Assam.

The Assam Accord, 1985, had fixed March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for deportation of all illegal immigrants irrespective of their religion.

The Bench also sought Centre's response on another fresh batch of pleas challenging CAA and tagged them along with other petitions pending in the matter.

One of the petitions, filed by the Association of Advocates from Maharashtra among others, sought to declare the Citizenship Amendment Act as discriminatory, arbitrary, and illegal and consequently set aside the impugned act as ultra-vires the Constitution of India.

On the other hand, over a hundred petitions have been filed in the apex court, for and against the amended citizenship law, which is facing opposition and protests across the country.

CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and took refuge in India on or before December 31, 2014.

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News Network
May 30,2020

Istanbul: Mosques in Turkey reopened on Friday for mass prayers after more than two months as the government further eased strict restrictions to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

Turkey has been shifting since May to a "new normal" by easing lockdown measures and opening shopping malls, barbershops and hair salons.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said many other sites -- restaurants and cafes as well as libraries, parks and beaches -- will reopen from Monday.

Hundreds of worshippers wearing protective masks performed mass prayers outside Istanbul's historic Blue Mosque for the first time since mosques were shut down in March.

In the Ottoman-era Fatih mosque, worshippers prayed both inside and outside, with the municipality handing out disinfectants and disposable carpets.

"I have waited a lot for this, I have prayed a lot. I can say it's like a new birth, thanks to God, he has brought us back here," he said.

Another worshipper, Asum Tekif, 50, said: "It has a been a long time... we missed the mosques."

Turkey, a country of 83 million, has so far recorded 4,489 coronavirus-related deaths and 162,120 confirmed cases.

Prayers in Hagia Sophia

Muslim clerics on Friday recited prayers in the Hagia Sophia, the world famous Istanbul landmark which is now a museum after serving as a church and a mosque.

The prayers were held to celebrate the anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople, today's Istanbul, by the Ottomans in 1453.

"It is very important to commemorate the 567th anniversary of the conquest ... through prayers in the Hagia Sophia," said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who attended the ceremony via videoconference.

The stunning edifice was first built as a church in the sixth century under the Byzantine Empire as the centrepiece of its capital Constantinople.

After the Ottoman conquest, it was converted into a mosque before being turned into a museum during the rule of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, in the 1930s.

But there have been hints about reconverting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Last year, Erdogan himself mooted the possibility of turning Hagia Sofia museum into a mosque.

Such calls have sparked anger among Christians and raised tensions with neighbouring Greece.

In 2015, a Muslim cleric recited the Koran in the Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years to mark the opening of an exhibition.

After Friday prayers at the Blue Mosque, a small group of Muslim worshippers shouted: "Let the chains break and let the Hagia Sophia open".

The group was later dispersed by the police who stopped them from protesting near Hagia Sophia that sits immediately opposite the Blue Mosque.

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News Network
August 4,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 4: Police barricades, yellow banners, walls with a fresh coat of paint and the sounds of bhajan mark parts of Ayodhya as the city awaits its big day Wednesday, when the first brick will be laid for the Ram temple.

Ayodhya is decked up for the bhoomi pujan that will be attended at the Ram Janmabhoomi by 175 people, who figure in a select guest list of seers and politicians topped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Concerned over the spread of coronavirus, the authorities are encouraging others not to come to the temple town, asking them to mark the occasion by celebrating at their homes. The groundbreaking ceremony will be telecast live.

Roads leading to Ayodhya display hoardings with the picture of the proposed Ram temple and of Ram Lalla, the infant Ram, the deity now housed in a makeshift temple.

Around the town’s Hanumangarhi area – named after a well-known temple which Modi will visit on Wednesday – both police sirens and ‘bhajans’ in praise of Ram are heard.

Most of the shops in the locality wear a new look, with their fronts painted in bright yellow. A large number of policemen were deployed there on Tuesday. Some sat in the sweet shops, waiting for their next instructions.

Roads leading into the area are barricaded. Yards of yellow cloth and marigold garlands were being hung on poles.

Even on the day before the event, security checks on vehicles heading to Ayodhya begin from adjoining Barabanki district itself on the Lucknow-Ayodhya road. Policemen take down details, including mobile numbers of the travellers.

Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar said the focus of the force is on maintaining the Covid-19 protocol.

“So we are not going to allow any outsider to enter Ayodhya city,” he said. Prohibitory orders are also in force and not more than four people will be allowed to gather.

“The markets and shops will remain open but with strict adherence to the Covid protocol,” he said. Outsiders will be stopped from entering the city, but Ayodhya residents will be allowed in if they produce any identification document.

“We are also carrying out random checks on people living in Ayodhya to ensure that no outsiders are staying here,” he said.

The city’s temples and mosques will remain open, but no other religious event – except for the bhoomi pujan – will take place on Wednesday.

Pickets have been set up at sensitive points in the city.

Sub-inspector Ram Chandra Yadav and constables Avnish Kumar and Ankit Chaudhary man the Terhi Bazar Chauraha picket near the Ram Janmabhoomi site.

"We are here for the past some days, and were on duty on the Rakshabandhan day. Duty comes first and only after that come other things in life, like festivals," Yadav said.

Mayank Gupta, who runs a restaurant, was handing out food packets to policemen, his customers.

"For the last two months, I have been providing tiffin to them twice a day. There are around 100 policemen to whom I supply tiffin," Gupta said.

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